RWD

If you’re one of those people who believes Subaru’s BRZ (nee Toyota GT 86) needs more power, then fear not, it’s already in the pipeline – turbocharging, all-wheel drive and even bigger capacity engines are all on the product team’s to-do list.

If you’ve been waiting to make a decision about your next sports car, then you don’t need me to tell you how frustrating it’s been whilst Subaru decide what price to sell their new BRZ for. You see, whilst the BRZ/GT86 is a joint Subaru/Toyota programme, Toyota are very much wearing the trousers in the relationship and came out first with details of the GT86 pricing.

There has been a tremendous amount of interest in Subaru’s new BRZ – sister car to Toyota’s GT 86 – but whilst Toyota announced the price and specification of it’s 2+2 coupe several months ago, we’re still waiting for the like-for-like comparison that will enable customers to decide whether they opt for a Subyota or Toybaru.

Pricing of Toyota’s new rear-wheel drive GT 86 coupe will, in some ways, be the most important determinant of the car’s success. If it was priced too close to lifestyle sports coupes such as Audi’s TT or BMW’s Z4, then customers would naturally expect the same level of creature comforts – which would defeat the very purpose of Toyota’s light-weight sports car.

The first pictures of Subaru’s BRZ leaked out last night, prior to its official launch at the Tokyo Motor Show. The BRZ, nicknamed Subieyota, is the company’s first rear-wheel drive car and was developed together with Toyota’s GT 86 (a.k.a. Toyobaru) which was unveiled at the weekend.

It’s a brave car maker who bucks the trend for more power, more performance and more.. everything when building a sports car, and when that car maker is Japanese there’s an even more tightly defined expectation for what constitutes a performance car.